Using persuasive technology to encourage sustainable behavior Cees Midden, Teddy McCalley, Jaap Ham & Ruud Zaalberg Eindhoven University of Technology The Netherlands c.j.h.midden@tue.nl Abstract In this paper sustainable consumption is conceptualized as the result of various types of interactions between users and systems. We review attempts to promote sustainable behavior and discuss contributions by using persuasive technology. In particular, we focus on the appraisal of climate risks and interactive approaches to influence energy consumption in households. 1. Introduction The impact of human activity on the natural environment has severely affected the ecosystems on earth and in the long run might lead to serious threats to human life and civilization. The environmental impact of humans can be roughly assessed as a function of their numbers, their affluence, and the technology they currently use (cf. Ehrlich & Ehrlich, 1991). However, despite the fact that humans have used technology as long as they have consumed natural resources, technology as related to environmental resource use, is often set apart from the study of human behavior and resource conservation. This separation has hampered interventions to protect natural resources and constrain negative environmental impacts. Various studies have shown that a purely technological approach to reduce energy consumption often leads to disappointing results due to changes in user behaviour, which have been described as rebound effects (Midden, Kaiser, McCalley, 2007). Also, resistance to new systems and negative experiences, for example due to faulty automation or lacking user friendliness, has frustrated the high hopes of innovative technologies. On the other hand, the effects of purely behavioral approaches have been very successful neither or mixed at best (e.g. Weenig & Midden, 1997). One of the main reasons for the lack of success is that most communication programs targeted the intentions of users, but largely ignored the technical context in which consumption choices actually occur. Basically, we view energy efficiency and conservation as the outcomes of multiple interactions between technological systems and human users. It follows that interventions that aim to influence consumption behaviour should be concentrating on guiding interactions between users and systems. The linkage between technology and sustainable user behavior can be described by distinguishing four roles of technology: (1) as an intermediary, where the technology used for attaining a goal defines the ecological impact, although often surrounded by uncertainty; (2) as an amplifier, where technology amplifies the human potential to attain goals, but at the same time it amplifies the use of resources (3) as a determinant, where behavior is shaped and activated on the basis of the affordances, constraints and cues provided by the technological environment and (4) as a promoter, where technology is designed to influence behavioral choices (Midden, Kaiser & McCalley, 2007).